Road Trip
by Toni42
Summary: CIVIL WAR SPOILERS! "He stood on his doorstep, wet, bruised, one-armed and covered in pink sparkly glitter." Bucky and Tony team up and go on the run to find the scattered Avengers. It's time to do what's right. They're not bowing to the Accords anymore. No Slash, Canon Pairings. Bromance. I really need to stop making new stories.
1. Chapter 1

_**THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING: CIVIL WAR SPOILERS!**_

* * *

 **Summary: _Rhodey said that it was the right thing to do by signing themselves over to the Accords. But then they tried to take Vision in to experiment on him, and since Rhodey have been the only one there at the time, he was the one to say no. That's how he found himself on the run. Vision went in search of Wanda afterwards. That left only Tony, regretting everything from signing the documents to blaming Bucky for something he couldn't control. So he was very surprised when none other then the one-armed Winter Soldier shows up at his doorstep._**

* * *

It had been so simple. So goddamn idiotic.

Tony hadn't been at the base when Ross showed up unannounced with four armed, expressionless guards. He hadn't been there when he demanded that they hand Vision over for a 'check-up.' But Rhodey wasn't dumb enough to think that they weren't going to give him back. He knew they were planning to do something a lot more then a doctors check-up to the red skinned Android.

So he'd refused. But he was still having Physical Therapy and the cybernetic skeleton Tony had built for him still felt strange and awkward, so there was very little he could do when they shoved him to the floor after he'd refused for the fifth time.

Rhodey, naturally, had called his suit. The metal armor helped him stay upright and it didn't hurt as much as if could have. In the end, two of the guards were killed and there was a large hole in the wall to Wanda's old bedroom. Vision fled at Rhodey's demand, who stayed to try and reason with Ross. But it was as if the General had gone mad. He declared treason on both Vision and War Machine, and they were from that moment on fugitives. Just like the others.

He knew it had been a mistake to sign the documents as soon as the words left Ross' mouth. Rhodey turned tail and fled after Vision as reinforcements arrived. He wished he could send Tony a message, telling him what happened, but he knew the billionaire's accounts will be searched for such messages. So he didn't bother. He could only hope they didn't tell him a lie and, if they did, that he knew it wasn't the truth.

And Tony did know it wasn't the truth. At least not all of it.

He regretted signing the deal too. They all did.

* * *

Tony blinked slowly, trying to process what was standing in front of him. It was raining, miniature rivers streaming down the sidewalks, thunder booming above the dark clouds and forked lightning flashing. And right there, standing in front of him on the porch, soaking wet, bruised, left jacket sleeve empty of any arm, and covered in sparkly pink glitter, was Bucky Barnes.

They stood, starring at each other, for almost a full minute before Tony got his mouth working again.

"So... going for a new, glitterly look, are we?"

"Is that even a word?" asked Bucky, voice a bit hoarse but probably not as hoarse as it had been when he'd first escaped HYDRA. "Glitterly?"

Tony shrugged. "No, probably not." A rather loud boom of thunder made him wince and, after a moment of hesitation, Tony stepped aside to allow Bucky entry. The Soldier rose his eyebrows at him in surprise, but didn't comment and seemed more then happy to get out of the rain.

"What are you doing here? I thought you and Rogers went on the run." Tony asked, closing the door behind him. Bucky glanced at the hole in the wall that was created during Rhodey and Vision's fight with Ross and his men, before turning to the genius.

"Wakanda- the place where me and Steve went- it got attacked."

"By who?" asked Tony.

Bucky shrugged. "It was either Ross or HYDRA, I think. Unless there's some new crazy villain out to get us." He glanced around, "Where's Rhodes and the Red Guy?"

"Gone." Tony admitted, stalking into the living room and deciding to ignore the fact that his mother's killer was in his house (not his home. It stopped being his home when the others all left). He flopped down on a chair, looking at the dripping Sergeant thoughtfully. "Why are you covered in glitter?"

Bucky actually gave a sheepish smile here. "Who knew Wakanda would have a Glitter Factory?"

Tony gave a loud snort, before sitting up again. "You still haven't really told me why you're here. If you came here for safety, I hate to break it to you, but this has got to be one of the least safest places either you and Steve can possibly be. Speaking of which, where _is_ Spangles?"

The other man's face fell, and he looked at the ground, swallowing. "I don't know. I'm not even sure if he was in Wakanda or not during the attack. I was... I was in cryo. I was supposed to be until they found a cure for my brainwashing, but... something broke the glass and I woke up right smack damn in the middle of a bloody invasion."

"It's not safe for you here."

"How so?" Bucky asked, although now he looked strangely guilty, as if the Accords making them sign that document was all his fault, "Is this... is this because I-"

"Killed my mom?" Bucky flinched, but he didn't deny it. For a moment, Tony seriously considered saying yes, that he wasn't safe here because he was about to be killed by an Iron Man suit, but he caught himself.

"It's not your fault." it was barely a whisper, accompanied with a sigh, but with his enhanced hearing Bucky caught it and his head snapped up, wide eyes looking at the billionair in shocked surprise. "You were brainwashed," said Tony, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. "I shouldn't... I shouldn't have attacked you. Or Cap, for that matter. I was just... angry."

"I don't blame you." whispered the Soldier, "Hell, I came here expecting to get a repulsor to the head. I hurt- no, _executed_ your mom. I don't know why I came here, I really don't. I guess... I guess it's because Steve trusts you. Even after you tried to kill him, he trusted you enough to give you that phone. To offer assistance. Besides, I would have gone further then an arm if you'd killed mine."

Silence descended on them after that, neither knowing what else to say. After a moment, Bucky continued, slightly louder then before.

"It's not worth anything, but I am sorry. Probably could've fought harder... could've stopped myself. But I didn't. Not at that point, anyway. Fifty years is a long time after all, and I'm not a man of Steve's caliber. I'm not strong enough to hold out fifty years of torture."

"I don't know about that."

"Sure you do. You don't give up easy, Stark. Not even if you were tortured for fifty years."

"I give up easier than you'd think."

"No. You came after us even after you signed yourself over to Ross. You looked hard enough to figure out I'd been framed when everyone else immediately accused me. Even Steve thought I did, at first. He didn't say so, but he did."

Tony sighed, stood up from his chair. He rubbed a hand over his forehead. "I was wrong. About signing. About you. About the Accords. About _everything_. This whole thing is just one hell of a shitstorm and I just went with it. Hired a fucking kid to do my dirty work."

"Most of the people fighting the war where kids, me and Steve included. It's not the first time it's been done and it's far from the last. A martyr complex will only make you more unbearable, Stark. No offence."

"None taken."

"I just..." Bucky sighed, crossing his one arm across his chest and clutching the empty space where his left arm used to be. "I feel like everything's about to get worse. I've got no idea where the others have gotten to, or what's happened at Wakanda. And with whatever's coming, I think we're going to need all the help we can get. So, naturally, I'm getting it."

Tony rose an eyebrow. "You're hunting down the others?"

Bucky nodded. "I didn't know where to start, so I supposed that's why I came here. Maybe I could convince one of you's to help me, even if it's just a lead on where one of the others might be. I didn't expect to only find you, though. What happened to the other two, anyway?"

The genius sighed, shoulders slumping. "I don't really know. I wasn't here when it happened, and when I got back there was a giant hole in the wall and the dinning room table was snapped in half. Ross told me Vision and Rhodey went crazy and attacked them."

"Do you believe him?"

Tony scoffed. "No. Rhodey would never do that, he thought signing the deal was seriously the right thing to do and Vision only ever attacks when he really has to. He didn't even want to hurt Barton when he came for Maximoff."

"The witchy girl?"

"Do you even know _any_ of their names?"

"Er... I know Sam and I think one was called Ling..."

"Lang."

"Right. Tiny guy."

"So... you came here for my help?"

Bucky nodded. Tony let out a breath and bit his lip.

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Tony didn't keep everything on his computers. Just in case, for pure and usually unnecessary backup, he has almost all of his works in folders, printed out and tucked away in the back of a closet. He also had things for emergencies, things he's had even before he became Iron Man. Such as safe houses, money, places to stay low. He remembers making it when he was in MIT. He does't remember why, but he never got rid of it.

Thank god for that.

He and Bucky are sitting at the kitchen table, the Soldier having just gotten out of the shower and wearing dry clothes that he'd probably found in Steve's room. Some sort of black makeshift bandage is over the arm that Tony had ripped off, and there's three files sitting between them, unlabeled, one open and the other two closed.

"I've got places where you and the others will be able to stay." said Tony, shuffling through pictures of houses all across the world, from apartment's with four bedrooms in the middle of Tokyo to giant mansions with indoor pools in the France country side. "No one knows about these places but me and you. Never saw the need to tell anyone and I didn't seriously ever think I'd be using any of them."

"Then why buy them?"

"When I was a kid, I planned on running away. Hell, I _did_ runaway when I was thirteen but I got dragged back within a week and it was all hushed up. I had been planning to have another go at it while my parents were away, but they, ah, well, never made it to the airport and, uh... after that I saw no real reason to leave."

Bucky bit his lip, casting guilty eyes to the tabletop. "Why'd you wanna runaway?"

"My dad was an asshole. The only reason I tried to kill you was because of my mom, and she was the only reason I had doubts about leaving." Tony shrugged, setting the papers down. "Looking back, I wish I had left anyway. Then I wouldn't have become CEO of Stark Industries and Stane wouldn't have sold my weapons to terrorists."

"He'd have tracked you down."

"Yeah," the genius agreed with another sigh, "Yeah, he would have. But it would have been worth a shot." He shook himself, brown eyes coming up to lock on Bucky's blue-grey ones. "Anyway, I've got places where you lot can stay where no one will even think to look. You can use them for breaks while you're on the road and once you've got everyone together you can stay in which ever one you like, although you'll probably have to move from place to place every now and then."

"What about you?"

Tony blinked, taken aback. "What about _me?_ What do you expect me to do, drop everything and go on the run with you, hunting down our friends in tights? I'm the face of the U.N., I've got diplomacy to be working on."

Bucky actually snorted at that, face twisting into a disgusted sneer and voice slipping into an old Brooklyn accent. "Shit like that ain't never been about diplomacy and you damn well know it." The Soldier blinked, apparently surprised at having slipped into an accent he hadn't used in a very long time.

Tony rose an eyebrow at him. "Well, can't deny that. But Tony Stark just vanishing into thin air? That'll be on the news, and that's not my ego talking. Okay, it kinda is, but there's a pinch of realism in there too. Cross my heart."

"Who gives a flying-" Bucky cut himself off with a sigh, before continuing more slowly, "I know you tried to kill me and Steve only a month at most ago, but you're the leader of the Avengers, and your team is out there, scattered and who knows in what kind of trouble. There's no one else in this building but you, Stark, and the government."

"So you _do_ want me to just drop everything and leave?"

"I want you to head out there and get your team back together so that you can stand up to those bullies, because the Avengers are the only team that can do that now. Steve can't do it alone, even if I track him down and join him, it won't be enough. But there are more than I can count on my hand- even if I had two- that will willingly follow your lead. My question is, Stark," Bucky leaned forward, elbow on top of one of the closed files, looking Tony right in the eye, "Why are you still _here_ when they are out _there_?"

"They'll think you kidnapped me." That was a lame excuse. Even Tony could see that.

"Then let 'em think that."

"They'll come after us. After you."

"You said you got places."

"I didn't mean it like that, I meant go there and stay low, grow a knee-length beard or something, live low until it's at least relatively safe. I didn't mean go there and beg them to attack!"

"I ain't begging fer nothing. They couldn't find me for two years, Stark, and they won't find me now. Even if I'm with a snarky billionaire in a flashy red and gold suit."

Something in Tony's stomach twists. He wants to agree. He wants to agree so bad, just leave, throw it to the wind, send the government office a 'Bite Me' basket filled with empty chocolate boxes with a little piece of the ripped up contract in each bit where the chocolate was supposed to me. And here Bucky comes strolling in giving him the opportunity to do just that.

"Why the hell am I even considering this?" he mutters, more to himself then Bucky, but the Soldier answers anyway.

"'Cause you know it's true. You know it's what you want, what's _right_. They attacked Rhodes and Red Guy, right? If they really are you friends, that should be reason enough to get one of them suits, put it in stealth mode and give the Accords yer middle finger." Bucky leans back in his seat now, hand moving to rest in his lap, "It'll be a statement. It'll say we're not just gonna sit down and let them walk over us like dirt under their shiny boots."

"But it goes against everything I believe in," said Tony, shaking his head and putting his elbows on the table, "Against actually picking up the pieces-"

"We're still picking up the pieces," insisted Bucky, "I know why you signed the deal. Steve told me. You think it's going to stop something worse, but it's not. Maybe working with us will stop it, but maybe not. It's better then sitting on your arse and feeling sorry for yourself though. No offence."

"The more you say these things the less I think you actually mean no offence."

A small chuckle rose from Bucky's throat, "You're probably right. But only because no one else can do it, 'cause nobody else has as little to lose as I do. World already hates me, doesn't matter if I was framed or not. I'm still a killer. There's even tapes to prove it; you saw so yourself."

Tony swallowed thickly, bile rising in the back of his throat. "If you want a new arm, don't bring that up."

The Soldier lets out a snarl. "I'm a shitty person- hell, not sure I even qualify as that anymore- and I sure as hell have done some shitty things. You better face that or you're gonna end up like them, too blind to notice how corrupted their own system's gotten while they've been scared shitless while twiddling their thumbs up their asses."

"You said you remembered it." whispered Tony, Bucky casting his eyes back to the tabletop. "All of it."

"Yeah. I did."

"What did she say? When she-"

"Nothing." the Soldier interrupted, "Her nails were in my hand... she was... she was shaking but she wouldn't let go, not until she was dead. Your mother was a fierce woman, I'll give her that."

"Damn straight." the other man whispered, face pale and looking like he was about to throw up what he'd had for dinner earlier that night.

"I didn't want to." whispered Bucky, hand curling into the borrowed shirt, "I tried not to, but they-"

"I get it." Tony said, some color coming back into his face, "You were brainwashed. It was done at your hand but not at your mind."

Bucky swallowed; closed his eyes, head bowed. "Steve's wrong. _You're_ wrong. It _was_ me that did those things for all those years. It's what I'm capable of, brainwashed or not. Always have been, just even more so after they trained me. But it's not what I wanted. I'd never want that."

They sit in silence, neither man looking at the other. Thunder booms outside, rain splattering against the large windows, lightning flashing above them. Tony watches the raindrops race each other to the bottom of the glass pane. Finally, he sighs.

"Alright, I'll go with you. The others couldn't have gotten too far after all."

Bucky opens his eyes then, giving him a weak, grateful smile. "Last I saw Steve and Sam was before I went into cryo. None of us knew where Natasha had gone off to, T'Challa had been in Siberia but he didn't last long. No idea where Lang and the others are."

"Well, we're gonna find them all."

"Even the sticky kid in the weird get-up?"

Tony shrugs. "Only if he wants to. I can probably cook something up for his aunt about him joining me on a science journey around the world or something."

"Think that'll still work when it gets on the news that you've disappeared?"

Tony gave another shrug. "I'll think of something. Now, how about we do something about that arm of yours before we go? I'd rather you have two fists to punch with."

* * *

 **Edited on 5/16/2016**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I know Tony got rid of his Arc Reactor. Anyone who's seen Iron Man 3 knows this and this is very obviously after Iron Man 3. But I don't really like how he got rid of it and this is FanFiction, so I can do what I want. Tony still having the Arc Reactor is the only thing that happened differently.**

* * *

Bucky insisted that they leave immediately, but Tony told him that the U.N. weren't going to check on him in another 72 hours. He'd had less time to build something, he'd built his first Iron Man armor in a cave with a box of scraps after all. Besides, disappearing on such short notice will leave them unprepared and while Bucky seemed too absorbed in his own paranoia to realize this, Tony was able to convince him that they should wait until everything was ready.

First thing was first though. The arm.

He dragged the Soldier to his lab and sat him on a table so that he could take measurements. Then Bucky sat on the couch Tony usually collapsed on after one of his inventing spree's, curled up into a painfully tight ball and watched as the genius began to assemble a brand new metallic arm, a headphone in his left ear blasting AC/DC as he babbled on about things even Bruce would have trouble keeping up with.

Tony didn't know how much time passed, but when he glanced up from his work to check on Barnes, he was fast asleep, still in his tight ball but this time with his arms over his head as if he were cowering. Almost as if he were afraid someone was going to come by and start beating him while his guard was down.

Dear god, why did he try to kill this guy?

Shaking his head, Tony returned to the arm. He finished it as the rain finally stopped and the sun began to rise, filling the lab in a soft yellow glow. The genius sat back in his chair, grinning as he admired the new and improved metallic arm.

It was less bulkier then the other one had been, the metal plates smoother and it was a bit more shinny, although the other was probably shinny as well but was just really dirty from living in such poor conditions. The red star was replaced by a red and white stripped one outlined in blue. Steve's colors, instead of HYDRA's.

Tony wasn't dumb enough to think it wasn't flashy, but Bucky only wore long sleeves and gloves in public anyway, so it didn't matter. Tony liked flashy anyway, and Bucky might appreciate the cheery tone. The guy's had too much dullness in his life.

The tech itself has got to be some of his best, right up next to his Iron Man suits. As much as it's ruined him over the years, Tony knows what is means to feel, and he knows what it means to go numb. Bucky's old arm only ever brought him pain, but now, Tony hopes he can pet fuzzy kittens or something like that and stop with the storm cloud above his head thing.

"You better enjoy these friggin' kittens." Tony says. Bucky shifts, but doesn't wake up.

He tinkered with the arm for a bit, until around seven or eight when Bucky woke up with a small jerk, slowly uncurling from his protective ball, sharp eyes taking in every inch of the room, searching for threats. They finally landed on Tony, then to the metal arm on the table in front of him.

Tony closed up the plates and put his tools away as Bucky walked over, inspecting the arm in what could only be awe. Tony grinned.

"You likey?"

"Yes." breathed Bucky, "Me very likey."

"Well, take your shirt off then!" Tony demanded, shooting to his feet and taking his newest creation in hand. "Out with the old and in with the new, pal!"

Bucky couldn't help but grin back at him, pulling the shirt over his head and putting it over the chair Tony had been sitting in for the past couple of hours. The billionaire's arms and shirt were covered in oil and grease, but he didn't seem to care.

He took off what was left of the Soldier's previous metal arm, sitting it aside to be disposed of, before attaching the new and improved one. It was flashy, glinting in the light of the sun through the window, the red, white and blue star gleaming on his shoulder. Bucky flexed it, the gears so quiet that even Steve would have a hard time hearing it. And it was so much faster, so much lighter, almost as if it were a real arm, unlike his last one. His last one had always felt like it symbolized HYDRA owning him, but he'd dealt with it because two hands were far more useful then one.

"It's beautiful." said Bucky, still moving the arm about. "I can actually _feel_ it." He looked at Tony. "Thank you."

Tony shrugged, smiling. "It's what I do best. Besides, that Star of America is much better then HYDRA's Red Star of Death."

Bucky grinned. "I think Steve'll love it just as much as I do. Really, Stark-"

Tony rose his eyebrows.

"Tony," the Soldier corrects himself, "Thank you. You really have no idea how much this means to me." There's a spark in his blue-grey eyes, like the last ember of a dying fire trying its best to relight the others, and Tony wonders if this is what Bucky had been like before the fall. Before the war. The guy looked so damn _young_ it couldn't be believed, because he _is_ young. Bucky and Steve both are barely even thirty and yet their lives are just this one giant war that they can never seem to get out of.

And Tony finds himself wanting to keep that little spark there, wanting it to grow because it was just so goddamn unfair for that spark to have died when Bucky hadn't even reached thirty-five. He wants Bucky to be alive, living, breathing, just like Steve does. Not the empty shell of a young man that had strangled his mother and stolen her final breaths.

He smiles back.

* * *

"Only one bag, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Tony grumbled, stuffing the lightest and most useful tools into the rucksack. All of the safe houses have labs stocked with tools and equipment in them, but who knows when they'll reach the first one? Besides, these might come in handy and it wasn't like he was taking his entire tool box.

Other then the tools, the bag's also stuffed with clothes and an extra pair of shoes, nothing fancy and the flashiest was a pair of purple socks with yellow pokadots. Then he had a few gadgets, much like the electric gloves he'd made during the whole everyone-thinks-I'm-dead thing, and a suit in the shape of a normal, dull briefcase that he was able to slip into the bag. There was also an untraceable phone, wallet, and a photo of him, Pepper and Rhodey. Before the Avengers. Before Iron Man.

The slightly jagged edges to the right showed that Stane had been cut out.

Bucky led the way out the door, backpack over his shoulders and the buckles clipped across his chest, hand resting almost casually in his pocket, but Tony knew he was actually clutching a gun. He peeked out, looking left and right as if he were about to cross a busy street, before slipping onto the porch and making his way down the stairs. Tony followed him, slipping his arms through his own backpack's straps, comforted by the feel of the disguised suit pressing against his back.

He was led to the driveway, only to stop dead as he took in the monstrosity before him.

It was hideous, the dark green paint chipped and faded, the sides rusted, scratched and dented. The windows were grimy and streaks marked the front window, as if someone had tried to clean it and failed miserably. The leather on the seats were stained and faded, and the leather on the steering wheel was peeling right off, a bit hanging off the bottom of it. It could hardly be qualified as a car.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Tony asked, starring at it in horror.

Bucky glanced at him, then back at the disgrace. "A car."

"That is _not_ a car."

"It's under the radar!"

"It's hideous!"

"What, you wanna walk?" Bucky asked, glaring at him. Tony huffed.

"I've got cars right here that we can-"

" _No_." said Bucky firmly, "Any car you'll have will just scream _billionaire._ It's bound to draw attention."

Tony groaned, shooting the ugly car a look of disgust. "Where did you even get this?"

Bucky shifted uncomfortably and opened his mouth to answer but Tony beat him to it.

"Alright, so you stole it? At least tell me there wasn't someone in it when you did so."

"Actually, I found it in the junk yard." admitted Bucky, clasping his hands behind his back, "It was the least broken one I could find and it took three days to get into working order, but I did it."

"Wait," said Tony, head snapping away from the car to look at Bucky, "This thing isn't broken is it? _Please_ tell me it's not broken! I do _not_ want to have this disgrace of engineering in my lab-"

"It's all in working order." Bucky cut him off, rolling his eyes, "I made sure of it. Shouldn't we really get going? We have sixty-one hours left before Ross comes to check on you and I'd rather we be as far away from here as possible before that happens."

Reluctantly, Tony sighed and nodded in defeat. "Fine. Were are we going, anyway?"

"A saw a cheap motel a days drive from here." said Bucky, climbing into the passengers seat as Tony slid in behind the wheel. "We can spend a night there and then start hunting down the others. They can't be that hard to find, can they? I mean, one's a tall muscular blond, another's got the worst sunburn in history and a glowing rock on his forehead and one's a witch that has her face plastered all over the news."

Tony gave a small, humorless laugh as he turned the keys, wincing at the sound of the spitting engine, "Harder then you probably think. Two of them are master assassins, after all, and I've been searching for Bruce Banner for a year now."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at him. "How many people are we hunting down, exactly?"

"Er... eleven, I think. Twelve if we count the kid."

They sat in silence, the now empty Facility becoming smaller and smaller behind them. Tony glanced at it's vanishing structure in the rear-view mirror, but couldn't find it in himself to miss it. It wasn't home anymore. Not with the others not there with him.

After a moment, Bucky gave a small sigh and unzipped his backpack, which lay squeezed between his legs on the floor, and pulled out a notebook and pencil. Tony glanced at him, but at least tried to keep his gaze on the road, instead watching out of the corner of his eye as Bucky slowly, carefully ripped the last page out of the notebook, before closing it and sitting it in his lap.

"Tell me their names." he demanded, already scribbling something that looked like _Iron_ _Man_ and _Winter Soldier_ and _Captain America_.

Tony named each of the Avengers, both the original and the brand new ones, spelling their names out when Bucky asked.

"Parker's in Queens, right?"

At Tony's nod, the Soldier scribbled something next to the vigilante's name, before putting the pencil and notebook away, folding the paper up and sticking it under a plate in his metal wrist.

"If that gets lost in there, I'm not fishing it out."

"Yes, you are."

After a while, Bucky curled up in his seat, much like he had on the couch in Tony's lab, and starred out the window at the passing signs and mile meters with a small frown. They didn't say anything, and half an hour later when Tony glanced at him to make sure he was okay, he found him, once again, fast asleep with his head tucked snugly between his knees and arms wrapped around his head. The position made Tony's heart clench painfully.

Hours later, with his stomach grumbling angrily and the fuel dangerously low, Tony pulled the car into a gas station. Unbuckling his seat belt, he spared Bucky a glance before climbing out the car and putting money in the machine to fill it up.

With that done, Tony contemplated waking the Soldier up so no one could sneak up on him, but while Bucky had his head hidden under his arms, when Tony ducked down he could see his face was peaceful, despite the fact that he seemed to expect to get beaten awake at any moment. So, with a resigned sigh, he turned around and began making his way into the store, admittedly glancing over his shoulder more often then not.

Reminding himself that Barnes could defend himself just fine, even in his sleep, Tony grabbed two large bags of potato chips, a bottle of Coca Cola, four different kind of snack bars and a bag of Beef Jerky, dropping it all on the counter in front of the cashier, who was on his phone and eating nachos and dip.

He barely glanced at Tony as he scanned the food and put the money in the cashier, not seeming to even care if he payed the right amount. Relieved that the man was too focused on his phone to recognize him, Tony gathered the food and drink into his arms again and pushed open the door with his back.

When he got back into the drivers seat, Bucky still fast asleep, Tony twisted in his seat and dropped everything into the backseat, picking one of the bag of chips up off the floor when it fell and ripping it open to munch on.

Tony drove on, going through both bags of chips, two snack bars and half of the Cola, Bucky sleeping the whole way. He didn't know what to think of the other mans trust in him. Showing up at his door seeking help was one thing, but sleeping around him two times? Before, he had brushed it off as exhaustion, but the Soldier couldn't be that exhausted anymore.

He decided not to dwell on it.

The hours passed without anything eventful happening. Tony finished the Cola and another snack bar, forcing himself to save Bucky the last one and to not eat the Beef Jerky. The sun was soon setting and the stars were coming out, little twinkling dots on an expanse of black. The only light was the headlights, the soft blue glow of the Arc Reactor and the lights of the mile meters and lit up signs.

Tony's eyelids began to drop and he started yawning. After the sixth yawn, he pulled over, not wanting to accidentally crash the car, as ugly as it was. He reached over and shook Bucky's shoulder, who immediately jolted awake, eyes darting around in search of a threat. When he saw Tony, he relaxed, sitting up properly and stretching.

"What time is it?" he asked around a yawn.

"Quarter to eleven." Tony answered, unbuckling his seat belt. "I'm afraid of falling asleep and killing us, so you're driving while I take a nap."

Bucky nodded, unbuckling his own seat belt and getting out the car. They swapped seats, Tony stretching his legs out as far as he could and resting his side against the door.

"Oh," he said as an after thought, "And if you get hungry, I saved you a snack bar. You can have some Beef Jerky too, but don't eat all of it."

"Thanks." said Bucky genuinely, glancing at the back seat, which was covered in trash. "You sure got hungry."

Tony snorted. "More like bored. Besides, I'm bound to lose some weight on this Road Trip thing. Might as well eat when I can."

Bucky drove back onto the road, and Tony watched the passing lights for a little while before his eyes began to drop again and he allowed himself to sleep, only half-wondering if he was going to wake up on the side of the road or with a knife in his chest.

* * *

Thankfully, when Tony woke up he was still in the car and Bucky was still driving. The sun was coming up and a passing sign said a motel- most likely the one that Bucky had been talking about- was two miles away.

"Who we going after first?" the Soldier asked, not tearing his eyes from the road. Tony briefly wondered how he knew he'd been awake.

"Peter." he said, after a moment of thought. He shrugged at Bucky's raised eyebrows. "He doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to. Besides, wasn't he able to take down both you and the Falcon? It was also his idea to tie Lang's legs up and punch him in the face. I'd say he deserves some consideration."

"What about school?" asked Bucky, "You don't exactly get paid for being a vigilante, or an Avenger for that matter, on the run or not."

"I'll tutor him. And it's not like we're going to reveal his identity on TV, so he can leave whenever he wants to. It's all up to him."

Bucky gave a sigh, then a shrug. "Whatever you say, shellhead." he slowed the car down, turning into a parking lot. "We're here."

As soon as he saw the motel, Tony pulled a face. It was even worse then the car, with it's stained and mossy brick and half the windows boarded over. The neon sign next to the parking lot was flickering and the L was completely out, spelling **_Cassandras Mote_** of all things.

"This is it?" asked Tony, once again disgusted the second time that day, "Really? I mean, come on, the car was bad but _this_? Can't we just sleep in the parking lot?"

"It's just for the night." Bucky rolled his eyes, switching off the engine, "Besides, it'll be suspicious to sleep in the car when there's a motel right in front of us."

Tony groaned, but followed Bucky out the car and into the lobby, although reluctantly. An old women with bright pink old-fashioned rim horned glasses sat at the receptions desk, reading a magazine. Her lipstick was bright red, the pink glasses dotted with fake jewels and her nails were painted green.

She looked up as Tony and Bucky approached, Tony with a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. The women gave them a kind smile, sitting down the magazine. "How can I help you dears?"

"We're looking to spend the night." said Bucky, a dazzling smile on his lips. "Just one room will do."

"Of course, dears." said the women, starting to type on her computer. "Can I get your names?"

"Grant Buchanan." Bucky lied, spelling out 'Buchanan' when the women asked.

"And you?" she asked Tony, who said the first name that came to mind.

"Edward Rhodes."

The women typed it in and gave Bucky a bronze key with the spray-on silver peeling off, a number _12_ hanging from the little loop. "Just call if you need anything."

"Thank you, ma'am." Bucky smiled, before leading Tony up a set up stairs.

"Buchanan?" Tony asked, once they were out of earshot. Bucky pulled a face.

"My god-awful middle name. Don't know how, but Steve got 'Bucky' out of that. Edward?"

" _My_ god-awful middle name." Tony repeated with a grin, causing the Soldier to bark out a laugh. "My dad had wanted to name me after Steve, but my mom wasn't a big fan of his name so they went with Edward. Not sure which one's worse."

Bucky snorted, grinning widely as he looked at Tony with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Wait 'till I tell Steve."

"Please don't." Tony begged, smile falling as horror dawned. "I'll never hear the end of it."

"Which would you prefer," asked Bucky, as if Tony hadn't said a word, "Anthony Edward Stark or Anthony Steven Stark?" his grin widened, "Ha! If they'd made your middle name Steven your initials would have spelled _A.S.S._!"

"Probably one of the reasons why they _didn't_ name me after Steve." Tony glared, but Bucky ignored him, snickering as they came up to their door.

"I think it suits you."

* * *

 **And that's that. I seriously meant to update _I Just Wanna Be Okay_ but... yeah... I felt like writing this instead.**


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